The other day we were shooting a hawk in Central Park that had just caught a pigeon . Not so significant till I was told that it’s the NYC famous hawk : pale male .

Pale Male /peɪl meɪl/ (hatched in 1990) is a red-tailed hawk who has resided since the 1990s near New York City’s Central Park. Birdwatcher and author Marie Winn gave him his name because of the unusually light coloring of his head. He is one of the first red-tailed hawks known to have nested on a building rather than in a tree and is known for establishing a dynasty of urban-dwelling red-tailed hawks. Each spring, bird watchers set up telescopes at the Model Boat Pond to observe his nest and chicks at 927 Fifth Avenue.

I’m honestly not sure . We all try to assume or guess . Just as the hawk i photoed supposed to be pale male , according to someone in the know . But part of me thinks he’s a legend at this point because the red tail hawk lives 25 years , and pale male would be 27 now .